Having won their last seven contests, Men’s Hockey (18-6-0-0) hopes to make it nine in a row this weekend. The Blues, who lead their Mid-East division by 18 points, meet the second- and third-best teams from the Far East division, travelling to McGill (13-5-3-1) Friday before facing off against Ottawa (7-12-3-2) the following night.
McGill boasts the fifth-best team in the nation according to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport rankings, and in October the Martlets defeated the Blues 3-0 at Varsity Arena. For U of T to be successful this time, they will need the tremendous play of goaltender Matt Grinnell. Grinnell leads the nation with a 1.89 goals against average and a .931 save percentage, and was recently named Ontario University Athletic’s male athlete of the week.
Late-season push
With only four regular-season matches remaining, this weekend’s games are U of T’s last chance to solidify their inter-divisional record. Five of their six losses have been to teams outside the Mid-East, with the Blues being outscored 37 to 36. Conversely, in their divisional games, U of T owns a 51-to-12-goal advantage and a 9-1 record. As a result, coach Darren Lowe has been stressing team defence in preparation for the two matches.
“We’re a team that plays good, solid defence,” Lowe said. “We need to take advantage of our offensive opportunities.” The coach emphasized the need for the Blues to reach a balanced offensive and defensive mindset before the playoffs begin next month.
Harmony wins
The symmetry Lowe desired was on display this weekend, as the Blues posted 3-1 victories over visiting Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (14-4-2) Friday and Concordia (6-15-2) Saturday. The two wins improved the Blues’ inter-divisional record to 7-5.
U of T’s centre Joe Rand scored all three of the team’s goals Against Concordia, while defensively the Blues were able to limit the Stingers to 23 shots total.
On Friday, U of T was facing what Lowe called “a pretty strong offensive team” in UQTR. Les Patriotes scored nine goals the previous night against Ryerson, but against the Blues their opposition could not find the back of the net.
Boasting three of the top 20 point-getters in the OUA, UQTR took an early lead on a pretty top-shelf goal by Thiery Poudrier, whose 37 points are tied for third best in the league. The score would be the finest moment of the night for Les Patriotes, who could not keep up with U of T’s speed.
Visibly faster than their opponents, the Blues forced UQTR to make quick decisions, resulting in mistakes that led to several chances for the Blues to score.
The Blues’ first goal had right-winger Anthony Pallota beating the UQTR defender to the puck in the corner, after which Pallota blew by him to set up left-winger Simon Barg in front of the net. Later, Pallota found Barg flying through the neutral zone, where the left-winger dished it to defenseman Ed Snetsinger for their second score.
“I thought they looked a little bit tired, as they travelled a long way,” Lowe said of UQTR. “Our intention was to play with some speed and to see if we could wear them down, and it looked like it worked.”
